The Wine Knows

We awoke to rain this morning. If you live west of the Cascades, you might not think that's news, but here in Washington's Columbia Valley, it's kind of weird to get rain in August.

By Seattle or Portland standards, this might not really be rain, but more of a heavy mist. Here in wine country, it's a veritable downpour.

This is the first precipitation in a month and the first measurable rainfall since June 29, when we had 2/100ths of an inch. The last "real" rain was June 5, when we had nearly a half-inch.

This rain isn't a bad thing. We've had a number of fires in the region, most notably the 70,000-acre fire north of the Yakima Valley that started Thursday and was contained late Friday.

Viticulturally, this doesn't affect the grapes. We know the temperatures are, in all likelihood, going to hit into the 80s and 90s for the rest of August and well into September. Temperatures lower than 90 will be welcomed because they will help slow the accumulation of sugar in the grapes. This will provide the opportunity for longer hang time and more complex flavors without having to deal with overripe fruit that would result in higher alcohols.

A year ago, Domaine Ste. Michelle started harvesting in mid-August for its sparkling wines. Winemaker Rick Casqueiro emailed me a couple of weeks ago to inform me that he was holding off this year until Labor Day, which is a couple of weeks out still. Typically, the harvest begins in earnest the Tuesday after Labor Day.

The Brunello-clone Sangiovese in my backyard is measuring 16.4 brix. This will creep up over the next three or four weeks to the optimal ripeness of 24 to 25 brix. That said, Sangiovese is an early ripener, as are Syrah and Merlot. Cabernet Sauvignon still has a long, long ways to go. I expect that by mid-October, we will see Cab, Cab Franc and Riesling being harvested, wrapping up the 2007 vintage (except for dessert wines).